Drug Running

Gerhardt

Gerhardt

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Gerhardt
I just read another article in our local paper about a couple of guys being arrested carrying a large amount of pot. They were pulled over for expired tags and the cop smelled it and called for the dog. I'm always amazed when I see where traffickers are caught because it all started with a minor traffic infraction. Speeding, not signalling when changing lanes, headlight/tail light out, etc.

I can't help but to think that I'd be the world's best driver if that was my cargo, so you have to wonder why it's so common. Unless they're just a distraction while a vehicle really loaded down goes by.

Anyone here a trafficker that's in the know?
 
The smart ones never get caught, nor would you ever know what they did. Just like there are stupid pilot tricks, there are stupid everyone tricks.
 
I'm sure the intelligence and diligence level of a typical drug trafficker ranges from very high to very low with the bell curve peaking at the lower end. You don't hear about the careful ones getting caught now do you.
 
Way back when, I was approached by 2 fellows asking if I wanted to make some easy cash. They wanted me to fly to ....... and pick up 500 lbs. of drugs. The pay was very enticing but I said no. Could have done it, too, since I babysat the DEA's drug dog in my office once in awhile while the guys went to lunch. Didn't want to leave the dog in a hot car. Don't think they knew I had that connection with DEA!!!!!:rofl:
 
Gerhardt said:
I just read another article in our local paper about a couple of guys being arrested carrying a large amount of pot. They were pulled over for expired tags and the cop smelled it and called for the dog. I'm always amazed when I see where traffickers are caught because it all started with a minor traffic infraction. Speeding, not signalling when changing lanes, headlight/tail light out, etc.

I can't help but to think that I'd be the world's best driver if that was my cargo, so you have to wonder why it's so common. Unless they're just a distraction while a vehicle really loaded down goes by.

Anyone here a trafficker that's in the know?
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:rofl: The core cadre of the drug smuggling industry are not what I consider, 'a brain trust', it becomes obvious fast that you don't want to be in business with them. I grew up around the industry, my best friend down the street from Kindergarten on had a much older half brother that was deep in the business, he was in prison in Columbia for a while until the prison got blown up and a whole bunch of people escaped.:lol: It's really a screwed up business, and ever since the War on Drugs took the industry Wall Street, it really got out of hand. It went from an expensive party drug that only a few would freebase and smoke, to a cheap and plentiful drug ready to smoke $5 or a blowjob at a time. To make it even worse, some guys are cooking crystal meth into their rock to make it last better for desirability/market share. Once people start smoking cocaine, they are going on a trip to a dark place, when they start smoking meth, they become zombies. Crystal Meth is the Zombie Apocalypse. It is not typical for people to return from this trip. If you like smoking rock the first time, the chances are high that you will die smoking rock. If you like smoking speed, then it is likely that you will go out under a hail of fire after committing some gross act of violence and armed mayhem. I have lived my entire life in America surrounded in this culture, because it is pervasive everywhere in America.
 
A friend I went to high school with got into that. He moved out west and made lots of cash. Did a few months for getting busted in his early days while driving his goods around. Was always very careful he said, not to break law etc...

He was pulled over by an "authorized profiler" a police officer trained in drug interdiction. Can pull you over for no infraction whatsoever and search the car.

I haven't seen the guy in years, he's either worth millions or in jail.
 
dell30rb said:
He was pulled over by an "authorized profiler" a police officer trained in drug interdiction. Can pull you over for no infraction whatsoever and search the car.
Click to expand...

How is that legal?
 
EdFred said:
The smart ones never get caught, nor would you ever know what they did. Just like there are stupid pilot tricks, there are stupid everyone tricks.
Click to expand...

Barry seals was anything but stupid but was finally murdered by Colombians for being controlled by the CIA. He was also a phenomenal pilot. Flying drugs was very big in the 80s. Even the government was doing it then when iran contra was big news. Most who actually flew the stuff did poorly , while the bosses made out quite well which is usually the case. Flying out of summit aviation quite often, in the mid eightys I saw things that were dumbfounding. At that time a CIA operative ran it.
 
EdFred said:
The smart ones never get caught, nor would you ever know what they did. Just like there are stupid pilot tricks, there are stupid everyone tricks.
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Name one. Every last one I have ever known has done time or been killed. Mickey Munday was the best there was, and he did time.
 
MAKG1 said:
Suspicious behavior.

It's not illegal to swerve all over the road, either, but it will get you a field sobriety test if you do.
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Yeah, but what suspicious behavior? Swerving "all over the road" would at least at one point have you (partially) leaving your lane without signaling - an infraction in most places. However, driving the speed limit/keeping up with traffic, without doing anything to warrant attention is suspicious how?
 
EdFred said:
Yeah, but what suspicious behavior? Swerving "all over the road" would at least at one point have you (partially) leaving your lane without signaling - an infraction in most places. However, driving the speed limit/keeping up with traffic, without doing anything to warrant attention is suspicious how?
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If you have legal plates on an inconspicuous car, a shave and a haircut, set the cruise 5 over, and not be black or Mexican, your chances of getting caught transporting within the lower 48 without unduly calling attention to yourself or being narced out are next to none. For convoys you assign bait cars to run ahead and draw the cops out into writing them a speeding ticket. (If they don't come out they may be waiting and you were narced out)
 
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EdFred said:
Yeah, but what suspicious behavior? Swerving "all over the road" would at least at one point have you (partially) leaving your lane without signaling - an infraction in most places. However, driving the speed limit/keeping up with traffic, without doing anything to warrant attention is suspicious how?
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You don't have to leave your lane to be suspected of DUI.

The rules are not a witnessed infraction. They are reasonable suspicion of a crime.

I once saw a clearly inebriated driver get pulled over, after driving 10 MPH down a nearly deserted residential city street, slamming on the brakes every few hundred feet. He stayed in his lane, but it was painfully obvious he was impaired.

How do you know this guy didn't do anything to warrant attention? The claim was that he did "nothing illegal," a very different statement.
 
Decided at the last minute to take a quick trip into Canada and see Vancouver a few years back while visiting my daughter who was living in Anacortes, WA. No reservations, just figured we would find a hotel somewhere along the way.

Hit the Canadian border in a 2005 Kia Sportage SUV that she was driving at the time, tinted windows, loaded with crap and suitcases, and stuff she didn't move in to her house.

We were determined to be suspicious by the Canadian border people, the car was directed into a close off from view area. Two officers took me into one building, two others took my daughter to another building.

We were each asked a series of questions about our intentions in Canada, where we were from, etc...

I could see under a divider wall to where the car was parked, and everything in the car was unloaded and placed on the ground.

It was probably 45 minutes I sat in a large room, with lots of security cameras, while waiting for my car and my daughter.

I guess Canadians are suspicious of people named Jose, just like Americans.
 
The smart ones get away with it until the greed takes over. Then they start taking to many chances.
 
My friend and ex coworker got caught. Not sure how many trips he made and got away with.
 
kiddbats said:
The smart ones get away with it until the greed takes over. Then they start taking to many chances.
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Greed doesn't take over, greed is the force that propels the entire industry from the onset. Nobody 'gets away' with it if you aren't on the right side of WoD.
 
JoseCuervo said:
Decided at the last minute to take a quick trip into Canada and see Vancouver a few years back while visiting my daughter who was living in Anacortes, WA. No reservations, just figured we would find a hotel somewhere along the way.

Hit the Canadian border in a 2005 Kia Sportage SUV that she was driving at the time, tinted windows, loaded with crap and suitcases, and stuff she didn't move in to her house.

We were determined to be suspicious by the Canadian border people, the car was directed into a close off from view area. Two officers took me into one building, two others took my daughter to another building.

We were each asked a series of questions about our intentions in Canada, where we were from, etc...

I could see under a divider wall to where the car was parked, and everything in the car was unloaded and placed on the ground.

It was probably 45 minutes I sat in a large room, with lots of security cameras, while waiting for my car and my daughter.

I guess Canadians are suspicious of people named Jose, just like Americans.
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I bought a car last summer in Alaska and drove it back home to New Mexico. At the Canadian border I was directed into a different area to wait while the officer took our passports. After about 20 minutes he came back and handed us our passaports and said "Have a nice trip through Canada, ay?"

My wife was afraid because this was her first time to travel through another country as an American citizen. I told her all they are doing is checking to make sure the car is not stolen, and that we were not wanted felons or muslim terrorist. She was not amused.
 
Zeldman said:
I bought a car last summer in Alaska and drove it back home to New Mexico. At the Canadian border I was directed into a different area to wait while the officer took our passports. After about 20 minutes he came back and handed us our passaports and said "Have a nice trip through Canada, ay?"

My wife was afraid because this was her first time to travel through another country as an American citizen. I told her all they are doing is checking to make sure the car is not stolen, and that we were not wanted felons or muslim terrorist. She was not amused.
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Heck, a prIor DUI might screw you at the Canadian border. I know a guy who has to take the ferry if he wants to bring his car down.
 
Henning said:
Heck, a prIor DUI might screw you at the Canadian border.
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That is simply Canadian retaliation for how much the patriot act has cost them. I have a buddy who's an attorney with Canadian clients. He has to go to Canada multiple times per year. He has a DWI in his distant past and must "buy his way out of it" every year. I think he told me it costs him $250/yr...but whatever...

It's all about the money and paybacks.
 
JoseCuervo said:
Decided at the last minute to take a quick trip into Canada and see Vancouver a few years back while visiting my daughter who was living in Anacortes, WA. No reservations, just figured we would find a hotel somewhere along the way.

Hit the Canadian border in a 2005 Kia Sportage SUV that she was driving at the time, tinted windows, loaded with crap and suitcases, and stuff she didn't move in to her house.

We were determined to be suspicious by the Canadian border people, the car was directed into a close off from view area. Two officers took me into one building, two others took my daughter to another building.

We were each asked a series of questions about our intentions in Canada, where we were from, etc...

I could see under a divider wall to where the car was parked, and everything in the car was unloaded and placed on the ground.

It was probably 45 minutes I sat in a large room, with lots of security cameras, while waiting for my car and my daughter.

I guess Canadians are suspicious of people named Jose, just like Americans.
Click to expand...
I dunno. . . Went through about the same thing, very similiar situation, and I was a middle aged white guy, a generic WASP. . .
 
The book Sugar Alpha a 'cough' fictitious story of skydiver and alleged drug runner Roger Nelson is an interesting read. Not great writing but it has airplanes. Supposedly started by Roger when he was in the pen and finished by his daughter after his death. His story is as Henning contends those on the right team are allowed to escape. Think he did time for taxes, the smart ones get it from improper laundering.
 
MAKG1 said:
You don't have to leave your lane to be suspected of DUI.

The rules are not a witnessed infraction. They are reasonable suspicion of a crime.

I once saw a clearly inebriated driver get pulled over, after driving 10 MPH down a nearly deserted residential city street, slamming on the brakes every few hundred feet. He stayed in his lane, but it was painfully obvious he was impaired.

How do you know this guy didn't do anything to warrant attention? The claim was that he did "nothing illegal," a very different statement.
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Hell I've done that when looking for a friends house. I knew the street, but not the house number, and a lot of the houses look the same at night. So I kept stopping and looking in the driveways that went around the back of the house to see if it was their car. Was I clearly inebriated?
 
EdFred said:
Hell I've done that when looking for a friends house. I knew the street, but not the house number, and a lot of the houses look the same at night. So I kept stopping and looking in the driveways that went around the back of the house to see if it was their car. Was I clearly inebriated?
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Guilty of: Driving while EdFred.
Sentence: Life in prison :eek:
 
JoseCuervo said:
I guess Canadians are suspicious of people named Jose, just like Americans.
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btw - Canada is in North America, just like most of the USA.

now back to the main thrust of thread.
 
Bob Noel said:
btw - Canada is in North America, just like most of the USA.

now back to the main thrust of thread.
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Mexico is in North America, also.

Not sure why you are challenged in Geography today, but keep studying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
JoseCuervo said:
Mexico is in North America, also.

Not sure why you are challenged in Geography today, but keep studying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Mexico is either North or Central or even Meso America depending on which geopolitical map you look at. Tectonically, except for a sliver, Mexico is part of the North American plate.
 
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Gerhardt said:
I just read another article in our local paper about a couple of guys being arrested carrying a large amount of pot. They were pulled over for expired tags and the cop smelled it and called for the dog. I'm always amazed when I see where traffickers are caught because it all started with a minor traffic infraction. Speeding, not signalling when changing lanes, headlight/tail light out, etc.

I can't help but to think that I'd be the world's best driver if that was my cargo, so you have to wonder why it's so common. Unless they're just a distraction while a vehicle really loaded down goes by.

Anyone here a trafficker that's in the know?
Click to expand...

The expired tag was just the excuse to pull them over. They were profiled, which is a valid technique, and then they were scrutinized until something was found to trigger a legitimate stop. Maybe he smelled weed when he stopped them.. maybe he just said he did. But the dog found it. So it was there.

Something similar happened (profiling) with Sandra Bland (not a drug trafficker, mind you, just an outsider..).. The DPS trooper ended up behind her, noticing a vehicle with out of state plates and he rode her ass until she made a lane change without signalling (which was a valid reason for the stop). The rest of the encounter is pretty well documented
 
One time I was crew changing and the boat was over in Galveston, so instead of taking the crew change van from Morgan City I took my car since I could cut a half a day out of my trip home to N of Dallas direct, rather than returning to Morgan City to get my car. Anyway I agree to take a bunch of dive tanks in my trunk since the van was already stuffed with other stuff. So here I am driving westbound on I-10 in an 10 year old Jetta with Florida plates (all legal) and the back bumper trying to drag the ground as I enter Texas at about 2am. Soon as I cross into TX I get pulled over, I hand the cop a clean license, and valid insurance and registration card. Cop asks where I'm heading and I tell him crew change in Galveston, he asks me what's in the trunk and I told him "dive tanks". He goes back to the car, calls it all in, comes back and hands me all my stuff (no ticket, I wasn't speeding or anything) and asks, "How about I have a look in your trunk?" That made me laugh, so I opened it and he goes, "Well ****, you weren't lying!" and starts laughing. When I closed the trunk I said to him, "You know, if I was smuggling, my crew would have drove by in the mules while you were distracted by me." and I drove off. :lol:
 
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Sundancer said:
I dunno. . . Went through about the same thing, very similiar situation, and I was a middle aged white guy, a generic WASP. . .
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Same here. A buddy and I were supposed to go to the bars (19 yo drinking age) when I was in college. He got in a lengthy "discussion" with his nutty girlfriend on the phone at his house. Net result is that we didn't cross the border til after midnight. Canadian customs didn't buy our (true) clubbing story that late and put us in separate rooms, questions etc. They did get a chuckle out of "my buddy had to get in an argument with his crazy girlfriend, we were supposed to be up here drinking hours ago..."

As far as the decoy loads, I was watching a documentary on the drug trade awhile back. The source they were interviewing said that they will set their own up to get busted with what seems like a large load, but one that pales in comparison to the ones behind it. Not only does it typically allow the others to get through, but it's a test for the mule. If they clam up and do their time, they passed and are taken care of by the employer. If they sing, they are "taken care of" in an alternate manner.
 
I had a private pilot student years ago who had spent his entire career as a traffic cop. He had some very interesting observations about society in general. If an adult driver doesn't like to follow basic traffic laws it's very likely they have some other character traits going on as well. Pull them over and do some checking and you'll likely find some other "things" as well.
 
I used to hunt with a md. State policemen. He allowed as how they were taught always stop someone with a light out, headlight, taillight , and often times it turned into something worse like a DWI or drug bust.
 
Sundancer said:
I dunno. . . Went through about the same thing, very similiar situation, and I was a middle aged white guy, a generic WASP. . .
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Yeah, but if you are a white male and it happens, it was justifiable. If you are anything else, it is profiling and discrimination. :yes:

Well, at least in the eyes of the perpetually offended.
 
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